Goodtime Cruizin

If you've never been to Rome to see all of the sites... then I'd say Rome. But Barcelona is just absolutely beautiful. Here's my experience...but first on a side note... this happened. 

My wife & I booked our 7 day Med cruise on the Liberty out of Barcelona. Son & DIL booked the same cruise out of Rome. Neither of us knew we did this until I called to tell them the great news of our reservation. He questioned me pretty heavy about our dates and our ship as he was on the same ship ship within the same week. Neither of us knew that the Liberty had or offered 'interporting'. So when we got on the ship on Sunday in Barcelona, and they got on the ship on Wednesday when we docked for Rome. When we made it back to Barcelona, they continued the cruise back to Rome. Crazy, but it was really surprising and so fun too.  We spent some wonderful time w/ them and also had some time alone too. It was a great cruise. 

We spent three days & enjoyed Barcelona very much, having said this, we were very very rushed to take in all of the wonderful sites that Rome offered in one day of ship porting. Luckliy, we hired a wonderful guides for Rome and a great guide for the Vatican. Both were private small 8 person tours. Because of this, the van was able to go places where a bus could not. This saved time & we did well in Rome but it was still busy. If you've already seen Rome and/or you plan to re-visit another trip, you'll be good. 

The national news is telling us that the vaccine is difficult to get but I registered in two counties and then looked at the CVS availability and was offered an appt the following day at one of their store a few miles from the house. Got the first shot.... then the last two days, both counties emailed me and offeed me appointments.  All of this in and around Houston.  I wonder if they loaded up the Houston area w/ ample supply because Biden came in for a cameo??? Maybe not. In Louisiana, the CVS stores that have been set up to distribute the vaccine on Wednesday night EVERY city/town  had appointments available.  

I recieved my first vax (pfizer) yesterday. Slight sore arm but all is good.  

Here's a good read regarding vaccines and cruise ships. I think we'll see a mandate of vaccined passengers and crew. At least in the very early start up period. I understand this doesn't match up to some. But I'm one that doesn't believe cruising will actually begin until a certain percentile of the population is vaccinated. Soon enough there will be a large enough segment of the population ready to go and I mean ready by vaxing up. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/02/16/heres-what-may-push-cruise-lines-to-mandate-passenger-vaccinations/?fbclid=IwAR0N-e5uZgMsk1iA1kkOUq7DZdBEzm1E3QVjkh2DBDkQ7RF_TPi9yzWuME0&sh=2bd617cef9ce

On 2/16/2021 at 11:20 AM, Iamcruzin said:

I never realized until this year how many scientist, lawyers, physicians and statisticians follow cruise critic.  Here I am just looking for a cruise secret or a good deal.

You place these folks in high? 

Scientists are tax funded thus are for hire to the highest bidder... lawyers are snakes for hire, physicians are difficult to reach, and statisticians slant numbers for effect. Knuckleheads? ...at least you know where they stand! 😆

1 hour ago, Canadianmama3 said:

This will be our first med cruise.  My husband has been to Rome before.  And I know our son would love allure.  But he also love Brilliance which doesn’t have the bells and whistles.  The ice rink was my husband talking not me lol.  My son does not need to go skating, he’s on the ice all the time at home. 
 
So I haven’t been to any of these places, but we are really researching all the ports.  And given we are going in the busy summer months some of the smaller ports that Vision goes to are appealing.  It’s also 8 nights vs 7.  

If the bells and whistles aren't really a thing for the fam, then you have options which is nice. I can tell you that a Med cruise is soooo different from a Caribbean cruise. Your Med cruise will be packed w/ things to do & places to see. There will be little time to leisure on a beach etc.  It will be a completely different vibe on & off the ship.  Having said this, the port days vs the sea days become important. I remember when we went on our first Med cruise it had five port days in a row. All amazing stops and we wanted to take in as much as possible. But after five days, we could not wait until we finally had a sea day just to relax a bit. So what I'm saying is, if one itenerary offers a sea day (break) in between the five or six port days, I'd be inclined to look real hard at that cruise. But that's us as it is that important. 

On 2/11/2021 at 7:40 AM, Vagabondvoyager said:

I think this whole incident was a tragic accident.  That poor grandfather did nothing wrong.  It was an accident.  The cruise line did nothing wrong.  It was an accident.  I can't believe charges were brought against that grandfather.  That family had gone through enough misery.

Negligence. He was negligent in his decisions and his actions. If he was driving a car and crossed over a double yellow centerline of the highway, he could easily be charged for negligent homicide if a death was involved. 

42 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The airlines are needed for the business traveler and thus considered essential.  Cruise lines are for recreational business only, so they're not considered essential. 

Flying to Cancun is not what I would describe as essential. 

Per an Executive Order, National Parks are now officially mandated for masks. 

On 1/15/2021 at 3:23 PM, taglovestocruise said:

We will be right back.....

I'd taske those two on the end in a heartbeat! 

My thoughts were that the L&S program was good for those that had reservations made pre-covid. It helped and assisted cruisers that was concerned for health reasons to not cruise. But then, the inital shock subsided somewhat and people began to book new cruises with covid happening all around. I recognize that this may not be a favorable opinion, but a price protection program should not be in play for these reservations. For the long term health of the industry, this is a smart move to get rid of them.  

12 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

People are going to lie about being vaccinated (does the term "Service Animal" ring a bell?). Where is the proof going to come from? I've been vaccinated. I have a piece of paper that "proves" it. That piece of paper would be very easy to forge.

No doubt this will occur. Proof is in the pudding... death. 

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I have no doubt there will be a class action lawsuit against RC if they make vaccinations mandatory.

I have no doubt either. I do have doubt though if they'd win. 

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Following the money when over 50%+ of your passenger base will have someone in the travel party that either won't be vaccinated or doesn't want to be vaccinated is not at all a good way to preserve business. It'll be tough to get many of those people back.

Well they have choices. We all do. No one is saying they must get a vaccine to go through life. What is probably going to be said is,  "our cruise ship passengers must be vaciinated.'  

And if I'm faced with some customers vs no customers, I choose the some customers category.  

1 hour ago, lovescats5 said:

So you want to ban kids from cruising until they are old enough to get a vaccine.  Maybe the vaccine will be a think of the past when my 13 yo granddaughter gets to be vaccinating age.  You want to cruise without kids go on Princess or Holland.  First the over 70 crowd was suppose to be banned because they were old and now the under 16 or 18 should just give up something they love.  Maybe I will file a law suit if my granddaughter is banned.  I know, let the under 18 and 70+ go and all you other people can stay home.  Yea, I am irritated and no I don't care if you get upset at me.  

So get a lawyer and get ready. It's silly to think that you, me, or anyone can sue a company because of company policies. All the policy has to say is, Vaccinations required. They don't have to place age limits on the customer. If you can't get a vax for your kid or I can't get one for me, that's not the cruiselines fault. 

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Vegas wasn't build as a place for family vacations. Cruising was.

 

You'll  be seeing all major cruise lines selling ships if they suddenly deem kids not worthy.

Naw.. that would be a very rash and ill advised decision to sell ships based on the current supply of vaccines. But faced w/ closing their business or following the money, they'll follow the money.  Like I said, I'd love to cruise w/ the grandkids, but I'll do it without them in a heartbeat. And I do want my grandson vaxed so he can enjoy not only cruising but many, many other things as well. The lines of the water slides & bumper cars will be absent but eventually a vaccine will be developed for kids. But until then, get vaxed, go cruising. 

1 hour ago, exm said:

 

Listen, I agree it's out of control for all of us. There might never be a vaccine for children younger than 12. Does that mean no kids on cruises? That too will be the end of a lot of cruise lines.

 

To me the key is this: get as many people vaccinated as possible, come up with a plan in case someone gets tested positive on-board and let's resume life. If someone has a health condition, get the shot.

 

It's unreal that most of the people under 50 have to endure lockdowns and disruption of life with a mortality rate that's probably lower than the average flu at this point. I'm not seriously advocating to ban older people (I'm pushing 50 myself), but at a certain point it comes down to personal responsibility if a vaccine is available.

 

Unfortunately the government (CDC) feels that they need to 'control' everything.

Vegas does fine w/o kids. And I do believe cruise lines can adjust and survive w/o kids under vaccinating age.  But banning the over 50 crowd, they may as well file bankruptcy now and be done with it. As with any business, follow the money.  

43 minutes ago, exm said:

 

Let me turn this around. Ban everyone age 50 and older on cruises due to the increased mortality rate: the age-specific infection fatality rate is extremely low among children and young adults, measuring 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at 25. However, the rate progressively increased with age, growing from 0.4% at 55 to around 15% at 85.

 

Don't like that? I don't like it either that as parents I can't cruise since my kids can't get vaccinated (I will get my shot when I'm eligible).

 

So the solution I think will be:

- The entire crew will be vaccinated

- To board a ship you either need to be vaccinated or comply to a specific (TBD) testing schedule

If this is what they choose to do in a failing industry, then so be it. I'll comply. But you do realize that if they chose to do this, they will eventually go bankrupt. And even you with kids won't be able to cruise. Families cruise on Spring Breaks, Summer, and Holidays due to kids at school. The cruiseline industry will not survive opening up for basically what amounts to 3 1/2 to 4 months a year.

If Royal adopts a vacination only policy and they start cruising,  and I have not been vaxed yet, oh well. I'll be required to patiently wait until I am. Life's a ***** at times. 

20 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

This is the norm in Texas, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners'_court

In Texas, the county commission has the superior role in matters as it may have multiple cities within the county. Tarrant county has many city municipalities within it's boundary so it has to deal with them all. A Mayor or City Council can set in place their own restrictions above that of the county but not below that of a county. 

4 hours ago, FSHLOT said:

It's funny with all these vaccine threads. Some people on here think everyone wants to get these shots. I'm not sure of the percentage, but even if a good percentage of cruisers dont take the vaccine will there be enough people to fill the ships?  

 

I know some will say "take the shot or dont cruise". Well, that is why i posted the question i did. I think it will be impossible to fill the ships if its mandatory!! IMO

I don't. Now granted not on 100% of the fleet of every cruiseline will be filled. But mandated vaciines will get the industry up & running again and slowly but surely the ships will begin to sail with less and less cancellations occuring. Those that wish to take a the 'wait & see' approach to the vaccine will simply be required to wait and watch as well. That's not a bad thing either. Skepticism of the vax is real as is whether an industry can overcome the worst financial hit that it's ever been confronted with. A few ships sailing w/ the mandate of vacinations is an absoltutely worthy endeavor in an effort to save a cruiseline from failing. IMO. 

15 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Ok, still no kids can get it. Would make a problem mandating vaccines but cant bring your kids. Maybe allow kids to not have it? Just those 16 and over. Still seems like a possible problem

Look, I'd love to have my grandkids cruise w/ me but the real deal is if a business is going to go belly up because of no buisness, then I would imagine that they'd adapt to the reality around them that says, "No vax, No entry."  As difficult as that sounds, it's just the way it's going to be in our future. 

6 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

We are booked in cabin 1032 on Jewel;  is this a good location;  cabin 1600 is also available in aft of ship

We were in 1600 on Brilliance. It was good. Quiet and we enjoyed the aft balcony  as it was on a Baltic cruise. Meaning the ship cruised slowly and we always seemed to be able to see a shoreline. Having said that, some say this GS is not as large as the others. although the balcony was really nice. I guess what we enjoyed most about it was there was no wind on that balcony which was really nice. 

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Four

 

Normal would be 1(two guests)

Solo is double that so 2 and this new promotion double the 2 for a total of 4

 

If they are in a true studio cabin that only accomadates one guest then they would only get 2 points.

Thanks. This is something to consider.

On 1/18/2021 at 12:54 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

I’m assuming that you meant Pinnacle and not Platinum.

 

Cheaper to go solo in an inside than the suite route.  You’ll also find group rates on the insides that you won’t on the suites.

 

25 seven day cruises solo in an inside gets you to 700 points.

 

Liberty out of Galveston Sept through March is the best pricing taking a break over Christmas and New Years would do it for around 30k

 

while you may find the odd cruise that is a better deal the flights will quickly add up.  Cheaper in the long run to stick with one ship. 

 

 

So using this example... an inside cabin sailing solo under the new plan gets one how points per night?    Two? or Three?

3 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

On a related note- how is the weather for US cruises in Sept?  We usually go in the winter.  I did one for my bday in October, and fortunately the hurricane missed us, but it caused me plenty of worry!

Hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico is July thru October. Living in Houston all my life tells me that August & Sept typically have the most storms. Having said this, the ships typically just manuever around them, although a port might missed. Really the biggest issue is if a storm is landing at or near the port on the same timeline of when the cruise starts/stops. 

So... Double points question... so 1pt for ea night is now 2pts as long as it falls within the posted dates. What about suites? 2pts per night is now 4pts? Correct?